In Brandon Chu’s satirical writing, he critiques the flaws of the election process. While he addresses a serious problem that has been on the rise since the 2016 election, there is a humorous tone. Chu’s lighthearted approach allows people to recognize the problems in the election process and prevents them from becoming offended. As William Thrall states, Chu “is conscious of the frailty of institutions of man’s devising and attempts through laughter not so much to tear them down as to inspire a remodeling” (William Thrall et al). Chu discusses people’s behavior on social media in the context of the election. People often share their political beliefs on various platforms of social media for two reasons: attention and to impose their views …show more content…
on others. Chu mocks the people’s obsession with online attention by warning the people “of voicing [their] beliefs in public because [they] won’t get any likes or comments” (Chu 1).
He plays with the words “likes” and “comments” because they refer both to reality and social media. This play on words enables the reader to realize people’s absurd addiction to online attention. Chu also ridicules the people’s goal in posting their political beliefs online. Chu sarcastically instructs that people should “impose [their] beliefs on everyone [they] know. This creates a more united America” (Chu 1). Through verbal irony, Chu demonstrates that political posts do not convince others to convert their views. He offers a scenario where America is more “united” because of shared political beliefs. This scene parallels a communist government, empowering the reader to see the ridiculous logic of these types of posts. The ridiculousness of the people’s desire for attention and imposition is so comical that the reader realizes the absurdity and is inspired to effect change in their own behavior. Had Chu been overcritical, the reader may have been irritated with the jabs at his or her behaviorisms and therefore may not have instituted …show more content…
change. In Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales, the Wife of Bath narrates her situation with her husbands in her Prologue.
The Wife of Bath explains that despite having five husbands, “marriage is a misery and a woe” (Chaucer 1). As a reader, this is somewhat humorous because of the irony. This irony sets a light-hearted tone for the rest of the Prologue. The Wife of Bath demonstrates that her multiple marriages stem from her burning desire for sovereignty. Not only does the Wife of Bath long for power over her husbands, she also enjoys the game of gaining sovereignty over men. This pleasure is most prominently exhibited when she is faced with her fifth husband. Despite being abused by him, she claims to have loved him the most. Although this irony is dark, the irony makes the situation more comical. Eventually, she gains power in their relationship and the husband says, “My own and truest wife, do as you please for all the rest of life, but guard your honor and my good estate” (Chaucer 129). By turning over his land, he has admitted to be submissive in their relationship. While the ironies make this Prologue somewhat humorous, the satire demonstrates that women should be in power over men. The Wife of Bath has been in power in all five of her marriages, which sets a precedent for other women. The Wife of Bath not only shows that women should have sovereignty, but that the game to fight for sovereignty is entertaining and exciting as well. Just as William Thrall has said, Chaucer
successfully utilizes humor convey a bigger message to his readers through the Wife of Bath: women should have sovereignty over men. By offering an outrageous proposal through “A Modest Proposal”, Jonathan Swift writes an essay that offers solutions to Ireland's problems. The ridiculousness of his proposal makes his piece comical which follows William Thrall’s ideal satirist. Swift makes use of multiple satirical tools bring his message across to his readers. Through verbal irony, Swift explains that selling children for food “would increase the care and tenderness of mothers towards their children” (Swift 8). In reality, “care and tenderness” come from loving the child instead of plumping the children to sell them. Mothers would probably distance themselves from the children because they only have them for one year. The logic Swift uses shocks people because it does not seem far from the truth. Swift attempts to further convince his audience in a subliminal fashion. Swift saying that “these children are seldom the fruits of marriage” (Swift 4). Through referring to children as fruits, Swift makes a pun. He discreetly connected children to fruits, suggesting that children should be used as food. By shocking the people with a preposterous solution that is frighteningly logical, he hopes that Ireland will attempt to find solutions for their poverty and overpopulation.
In Nicholas Carr’s article “How Social Media Is Ruining Politics”, Carr writes about the effects that social media has on politics. In his article, Carr focuses more on the negative effect that social media has when it comes to politics. Some points that he makes about social media include specific examples like the recent presidential campaigns, how other technological advances over the years have effected politics, and the effectiveness that social media has on politics
In the Horatian satire, The Wife of Bath, Chaucer is trying to teach the reader that if you respect others, you will get respect back. When the knight disrespected the maiden in the beginning, he was almost put to death. When he respected his wife as she was in the end, she respected him back. The reader also learns that “the most important thing is doing good deeds.” (Chaucer) Overall, the purpose of The Wife of Bath is to tell the reader how important it is to be a good
According to this character, women desire sovereignty, or power, over their men most in the world. This wish seems to be most appropriate for women of the time period in which Chaucer lived. However, women today no longer wish to dominate their men - sovereignty of women over men is not relevant in the twenty-first century. The reason is that women are no longer deprived of power and freedom. According to the Wife of Bath, sovereignty, or power, over their husbands is what women desire most in their lives.
Chaucer exemplifies this in “The Wife of Bath’s Tale.” Living in a male-dominant society, the wife ...
The Wife of Bath is portrayed as a strong-willed, alpha female. The Wife of Bath upholds the misogynistic ideas of Chaucer's time because she is a controlling, manipulative, know-it-all woman. Her personality and behavior both reflect the negative attributes that women were shamed for during that time. She is opinionated, dominate, and diabolical; all qualities that were not accepted easily in a woman. She defied the norm of that time.
In the words of the Broadview Anthology’s introduction to the Wife of Bath, she is “a sexually experienced cynic who teaches young people the tricks of love…. The Wife’s history and the literary shape of her prologue conform to many of the traditional misogynistic stereotypes found in her husband’s book” (Broadview 298). Why would Chaucer write such a clever portrayal of personal pleasure through the eyes of a woman, and yet design her to possess every quality so despised and abhorred within her so-called lifetime? Because the audience of this poem would probably include wives, and because everything the Wife describes is almost laughably vulgar, it can be understood that this poem would not be interpreted literally and women would instead be forced to listen to an account about female power, desire, and pleasure written, unfortunately, as cruel satire of their
The idea of supremacy and dignity are both present in The Wife of Bath’s Tale making it the central concept throughout the entirety of her story. It is assumed that her primary marriage was organized by her parents, even though The Wife of Bath does not mention them in her prologue, “experience, though no authority/ were in this world, is right enough for me/to speak of the woe that is in marriage; /for, my lords, since I was twelve years of age.” (Chaucer 285). In that time period, it is considered that the men, such as a father, husband or even a brother are supposed to protect the women in the family. Even though The Wife of Bath does not believe in being ruled by a man, she does however like to be married to one. One will notice that when a husband passed away or left, The Wife will move to her next husband. A marriage where the wife conquers over the husband is a perfect, blissful one according to The Wife of Bath. She discovers that it’s not too...
Satire is the most powerful democratic weapon in the arsenal of modern media. Sophia McClennen, the author of America According to Colbert: Satire as Public Pedagogy, describes it as the modern form of public pedagogy, as it helps to educate the masses about current issues (73). In fact, ”a Pew Research Center for the People & the Press survey in 2004 found that 61 percent of people under the age of thirty got some of their political news from late-night comedy shows” (McClennen 73). This statistic shows how influential satirical shows such as The Colbert Report or South Park can be.
example of the complicated nature of Chaucer’s belief system. On the one hand, we have many strong female characters that despite still being extremely dependant on the men in their lives, know what they want out of life. From a contrasting point of view, readers see a group of men, including Chaucer as the writer himself, making fun of the very nature of women as a whole. Is this really how Chaucer felt towards women, or is the prologue of The Wife of Bath’s Tale simply a parody of the opinions of his time?
The Wife of Bath is a complex character-she is different from the way she represents herself. Maybe not even what she herself thinks she is. On the surface, it seems as though she is a feminist, defending the rights and power of women over men. She also describes how she dominates her husband, playing on a fear that was common to men. From a point of view of a man during that time period, she seemed to illustrate all of the wrongs that men found in women. Such as a weak parody of what men, then saw as feminists. The Wife of Bath constantly emphasizes the negative implications of women throughout the ages. She describes women as greedy, controlling, and dishonest.
The Wife of Bath represents the "liberal" extreme in regards to female stereotypes of the Middle Ages. Unlike most women being anonymous during the Middle Ages, she has a mind of her own and voices herself. Furthermore, she thinks extremely highly of herself and enjoys showing off her Sunday clothes whenever the opportunity arises. She intimidates men and women alike due to the power she possesses. Because of her obnoxious attitude Chaucer makes her toothless, fat and large. Doubtlessly, she is very ugly, almost to the point of "not-presentable. This to me shows how Chaucer depicts what men don't want. The Prioress, on the other hand, serves as a foil to the Wife of Bath. Chaucer describes her as "tender-hearted" who cannot bear the sight of pain or physical suffering. She will cry at the thought of a dog dying. It could represent that she has a frail soul with low tolerance for pain and suffering. The latter description carries over into the modern stereotypes about women as skittish and afraid members of society who need to be cared for.
The Wife of Bath had a strong argument in favour of marriage but is easy to fault. Her argument that marriage grows more virgins, while correct makes us wonder why she bore no children. And she also mentions the fact that “in wyfhood I wol use myn instrument” but her marriage did not seem to have stopped her from restraining her “Chamber of Venus from a good felawe.” The Wife of Bath confuses bigamy with remarriage and manipulates the arguments for remarriage to suit her purpose. Chaucer gives the Wife of Bath’s arguments less credibility
Women have the ability to get what they want, when they want it. Chaucer portrays the Wife of bath as the dominant person in her marriages. She looks at men as her trinkets to be used and played with. She moves from one man to another, always looking for more. The Wife of Bath is a control freak, wanting to have sex when she desires it and with whom she desires.
However, Chaucer uses the Wife of Bath to invite us to think about the inequalities shaped in the institution of marriage that produce bad behavior. The Wife of Bath becomes a social advocate for women through her experiences.
The purpose of this essay is to develop a further understanding of the impact of social media in regards to the political debate. By looking at the topic of social media and the use of rhetoric in response to politics in the 21st century, a deeper understanding of the issue can be established. Social media has become a primary source for the discussion of politics by the average citizen whether through the sharing of articles, “memes”, advertisements or personal expository statements. As a result, large sums of information and ideas are spread rapidly across a wide variety of subjects. However, much of this information may not be accurate and could be misinterpreted.